On Sentimentality

Anthony Savile’s commentary on ‘sentimentality’ proved to be somewhat problematic while being correct at times. Savile states that sentimentality is a “gratification by false-colouring an object in his thought.” Thinking back to Kant’s Critique of Judgment, one is left to wonder if there is such a thing as “false-colouring”. Would it be false to declare that judgment and perception are largely dependent upon the subject and his or her right to subjectivity? Savile’s phrasing of his thoughts merely allows it to seem that anything can be thought to be ‘sentimental’, depending on how the critic views the situation. If this were to be the case, then what right do we have to view ‘sentimentality’ in such a negative light? That is not to say that a certain act out of sentimentality is necessarily ‘good’, but it is not necessarily ‘bad’, either. An overarching statement like Savile’s is too broad and general to be heard as truth.